Petty Crime

How Concerned Should You Be About Petty Crime?

In some communities, citizens explain away a significant crime rate by noting that most of the crimes committed are "petty," suggesting that they aren't issues to be overly concerned with. But is that really accurate? Should you really not be very concerned about petty crime?

We think that petty crime can be a serious matter, and a bigger cause for concern than some people would have you believe. Here are seven important reasons why:

Petty crime scares businesses and homeowners way.

In other words, the kinds of companies and neighbors you want to have in your community aren't going to take any crime lightly, because they know that it can have serious long-term effects.

Petty crime means higher taxes.

Even things like vandalism and shoplifting mean more police resources have to be committed to the community. One way or another, that leads to higher taxes for residents, homeowners, and shoppers.

Petty crimes are expensive in other ways, too.

Things like insurance rates automatically increase in neighborhoods where petty crime is prevalent. Even though it might be that these are vandals doing the damage, it's always local residents and homeowners who end up paying the price.

The poor and elderly are most affected by petty crime.

In other words, the people who can least afford to pay the tab for petty criminals often end up being impacted the most, because they can't afford expensive security systems, repairs, and other costs.

Petty crimes aren't always committed by petty criminals.

That is, the people who vandalize and commit minor crimes often do so while under the influence of drugs. It isn't a coincidence that these tend to be the same people who commit more serious crimes, too.

Petty crime pulls police resources away from more serious tasks.

Police don't have as much time to investigate serious crimes when they are constantly following up on dozens of minor offenses. That means that small crimes make it easier for criminals to get away with bigger things.

Petty crimes can be amongst the easiest to stop.

For all the problems that come with petty crime, they tend to be amongst the easiest to put a stop to, especially if a community is serious about identifying criminals and preventing them from doing further damage.

Fighting petty crime can be as simple as paying attention to your surroundings, keeping an eye on your neighborhood, and coming back to our site often to ensure that you're helping take criminals off the street. Why deal with petty crimes when you could not only help the police in a few minutes a day, but actually earn rewards while you're doing it?